Tuesday, June 05, 2012

The 10 Best Directors of All-Time Relay Race

Nostra of My Filmviews who had come up with the Ten Best Actor of All-Time Relay and the Ten Best Actress of All-Time Relay has once again come up with another one. This time around, it’s on the Ten Best Directors of All-Time to rank on who are the 10 best filmmakers ever. Being the fourth blogger chosen for this relay by Alex of And So It Begins..., I am next in the relay race to see who are the 10 Best Directors of All-Time. However, here’s what Nostra had to say:

“So what’s the idea behind the relay? I’ve created a list of what I think are the ten best directors. At the end of the post I, just like in a real relay race, hand over the baton to another blogger who will write his own post. This blogger will have to remove one director (that is an obligation) and add his own choice and describe why he/she did this. At the end the blogger chooses another blogger to do the same. We will end up with a list (not ranked in order) which represents a common agreement of the best directors. If you are following the relay race it is also a great way to be introduced to new blogs!”

As the project began on June 5, 2012, here are the participants who has participated in this relay race so far:

The man is among one of the great American filmmakers ever. There’s no doubt about the fact that he’s made some of the best films ever like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extraterrestial (my favorite film of his), Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan. There’s also a bunch of films that are definitely worthy to watch such as the two other Indiana Jones movies he’s made in the 1980s, Empire of the Sun, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Catch Me If You Can, and Minority Report. There’s also some stinkers that he’s made such as the awful The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the misguided historical piece Amistad, the overly-sentimental Hook, and the stupidity that we do not speak in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. I know there’s a lot of fans of his work and he should be appreciated for what he’s done. Yet, the fucker has to go. Sorry Steven.

My Addition

Lars von Trier

The enfant terrible of cinema. There is no man who is working today that can piss anybody off as well as put asses in the seat with a lot of films whether they love it or hate it. After all, who else could envision melodrama at its most despair with evocative grainy camera work in a film like Breaking the Waves? Who else is willing to capture the decaying decadence of Europe with the Europa trilogy of The Element of Crime, Epidemic, and Europa? What filmmaker is willing to shock all with the grief-stricken violence that is Antichrist? What filmmaker is willing to lay it all down the line to tell the story of an impending apocalypse where its lead character is on the verge of manic depression as she prepares for Earth’s end in Melancholia? Only Lars von Trier can do that and if anyone has a problem with that. I will grab a rusty pair of scissors and tear down your fuckin’ genitals!

Ok, that is all I will have to say about Mr. von Trier. Now it’s time to pass the baton to Stevee of Cinematic Paradox.

Spielberg definitely would have been at the bottom of my choice. As for Von Trier, a provocative selection for sure. I don't like everything he does, but I'm a fan in the sense that I will eagerly see whatever he puts out.

@myfilmviews-unfortunately, Mien Fuhrer Lars didn't stay very long and I doubt it. The dude is controversial but that's what I love about him. He means more to me than Spielberg has done in the art of film.

@martinteller-No one can create controversy and provoke ideas better than von Trier. That's why I chose him as he's in my top 5 favorite filmmakers of all-time.

A brave decision to boot off Spielberg! Interesting so many foreign directors have made the list(as opposed to the "actor" relay race which is mostly English-speaking dudes)

I do admire Lars Von Trier too, he has something to say with his films, and just goes ahead and says it, come rain or shine.Although I think his questionable press conferences of late have crossed the mark...His self-proclaimed "gag-order" and wave at the Berlin Film Festival kind of was a natural progression. He should just make art I think.

@Chris-Actually, it was Cannes where he got himself in trouble. I don't think it's that big of deal since nothing he says outside of his films should be taken seriously to begin with. The man is a noted prankster.

As for Spielberg... it was kind of easy because I kind of find him to overrated at times. People laud him but I also despise him for some of the bad movies he's made.

@thevoid99: Yes, I know, the scandal was Cannes 2011. I think we misunderstood each other, as I was talking about after Cannes, and how Lars von Trier has decided for the time being not to do press conferences anymore, hence the "ironic wave" by Lars at Berlin FF 2012. Apparently his producers were worried several countries would not buy Melancholia, due to his Cannes comments. I agree he is a prankster